DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 22 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 22 recites “a third processor”. Claim 22 is dependent upon claim 21 which previously recited “a third processor”. It is unclear if applicant is referring to the previously claimed “third processor” or intends to recite an additional processor. The Examiner will interpret the claim as being dependent upon claim 16 for applying prior art in order to expedite prosecution.
Claim 28 is dependent upon claim 26 and recites redundant elements previously recited in claim 26. The claim will be interpreted as being covered by claim 26. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 16, 19, 20, 21, 23-26 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2012/0030293 to Bobotek.
As concerns 16, an electronic messaging system for enhancing cyber security, the electronic messaging system comprising a plurality of user stations and a master station with which all of the user stations communicate over an information technology network, wherein:
each of the user stations (Fig. 1, UE) is arranged to:
receive and display electronic messages (0227-present message; Fig. 10, 1002) containing a possible cyber-attack (0227; 0101) at the user station;
receive an input from a user to indicate an alert (0227-present message, interface for UE user, control, button or menu to indicate message as abusive, abusive or spam button selected, abuse report, interface to provide additional information, or reasons for indicating as abusive) relating to one of said electronic messages containing the possible cyber-attack (0135-virus-containing, phishing);
display a plurality of predetermined reasons (0227- menu with predefined information or reasons) for the alert at the user's user station; and
receive an input from the user to select at least one of said predetermined reasons (0227-user select to indicate message is considered abusive, menu with predefined information or reasons); and
the master station (0228-MADC) is arranged to:
receive the alerts (0228-mobile device initiate abuse report and transmit to MADC) from the user stations, along with the respective predetermined reasons that have been selected by the users (0227-0228); and
issue credits or other rewards or recognition (0217-credit account that reported spam) to the users of the user stations, in response to receiving alerts and selected reasons from the users.
As concerns claim 26 and claim 28 (as best understood), a method of operating an electronic messaging system for enhancing cyber security comprising a plurality of user stations (Fig. 1, UE) and a master station (0228-MADC) with which all of the user stations communicate over a network, including the steps of:
receiving and displaying electronic messages (0227-present message; Fig. 10, 1002) containing a possible cyber-attack (0227; 0101) at each of the user stations (Fig. 1, UE);
receiving inputs from users of the user stations to indicate alerts (0227-present message, interface for UE user, control, button or menu to indicate message as abusive, abusive or spam button selected, abuse report, interface to provide additional information, or reasons for indicating as abusive) relating to said electronic messages containing the possible cyber-attack 0135-virus-containing, phishing);
displaying to the users a plurality of predetermined reasons (0227- menu with predefined information or reasons) for the alerts at the user stations;
receiving inputs from the users to select at least one (0227-user select to indicate message is considered abusive, menu with predefined information or reasons; 0203) of said predetermined reasons;
receiving, at the master station (0228-MADC), the alerts from the user stations, along with respective predetermined reasons (0228-mobile device initiate abuse report and transmit to MADC, report includes reasons; 0203) that have been selected by the users; and
issuing credits or other rewards or recognition (0217-credit account that reported spam) to the users of the user stations, in response to receiving alerts and selected reasons from the users.
As concerns claim 19, the electronic messaging system of claim 16, wherein each of the user stations is arranged to receive free text input (0227-user can provide additional information; Fig. 5A, 508) from a user to indicate a further reason for the alert, in addition to or as an alternative to said predetermined reasons, and the master station is arranged to receive said free text from the users of the user stations.
As concerns claim 20, the electronic messaging system of claim 19, further comprising a second processor (0040; 0191-one or more processors) that is arranged to receive and analyze data relating to said free text and to provide an output (0214-0216-hash, based on report, hash technique based on algorithm) to inform other systems in order to improve the security of electronic messaging systems.
As concerns claim 21, the electronic messaging system of claim 16, further comprising a third processor (0040; 0191-one or more processors) that is arranged to receive data generated from other processors, including metadata (0214-hashed message), and to analyze the data using machine learning (0214-hash algorithm; 0109-AI) or artificial intelligence to provide an output to inform other systems in order to improve the security of electronic messaging systems (0214-0216-further identify abusive messages, based on hash; also calculate hash ratio value; 0217-determine abusive senders, thus improving security).
As concerns claim 23, the electronic messaging system of claim 16, wherein electronic messages associated with alerts received from users of the user stations are assessed at the master station (0217-MADC) and, where such an electronic message is assessed as suspicious, an additional credit or other reward or recognition (0217-credit account) is issued to the respective user.
As concerns claim 24, the electronic messaging system of claim 16, comprising a plurality of the master stations (Fig. 1, 110 can be labeled a “master station”), each with its own group of user stations (Fig. 1, UEs), and a supervisory station (Fig. 1, 116 can be labeled as a “supervisory station”) that is arranged to receive data from all of the master stations and process the data received from the master stations to provide an output to inform other systems in order to improve the security of electronic messaging systems (0022-implement desired action; 0214-0216-further identify abusive messages, based on hash; also calculate hash ratio value; 0217-determine abusive senders, thus improving security).
As concerns claim 25, the electronic messaging system of claim 16, wherein the electronic messages include email, instant messaging (0103), chat, collaboration tools, and/or communication platforms.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 17, 18 and 27 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 22 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0286419 disclose ranking a user.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN B WALSH whose telephone number is (571)272-7063. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-3:30 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher L Parry can be reached at 571-272-8328. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOHN B WALSH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2451
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